Another Parvill fic (surprise) - Don't Let go
by escapo
Summary: Parv needs some help over the altar, but definitely doesn't get the response he expected, which leads to conversations he never thought he'd have.


Sleep didn't come easily for either that night. Both had already stayed up until the moon was high in the sky, working on mindless and distracting things. Each had their respective reasons for being strangely quiet as the evening hours bore away, and it wasn't much of a surprise that the two had ended up wide eyed and swept with insomnia when the lights of the castle had finally been put to rest for the night.

Will, conservatively withdrawn to the edge of _his _side of their double bed (the reason for need of the double bed being that it was a more efficient space-wise and a multitude of other reasons, of course), laid awake more troubled by the usual work stress. However, even as the constant pain of being a top notch CEO was tucked safely in the back of his mind, Will had found himself being constantly troubled by an impossibly more stressing issue.

With all of his partner's recent feats, it was almost painfully obvious that blood magic was beginning to consume his mind more and more. With each new bound spell or ritual that the tall brunet showed him, it was plain to see that Parvis had begun to sink in the grave he was digging himself. There was only so much that the business man could do as he watched his best friend plummet into the beginnings of madness; stare pitifully as a taint like red substance slowly crawled up his arms, masking the long and deep scars marked and remarked hundreds of times over the altar and covering them up with what seemed like a blood filled mimic of Flux Taint.

Will constantly beat himself up over the fact that there was nothing he could do to prevent any further harm to the other man - besides pray for an update in the God's creations that would let him go back to the time where Parvis started with it all; change fate and perhaps save the creation of a mad man willing to kill anyone that stood in his way of power.

He milled endlessly over these thoughts in the darkness that surrounded them, but all in all sleep finally started to wash over his weary body.

Parvis, on the other hand, had different things in mind.

With blood magic currently and always on the mind, he couldn't help but take a sort of liking to the really cool markings that had crawled their way up his arms. Blood magic had done so much for someone who started with very little potential, someone who had always been looked down to and brushed off as nothing but a rookie; Novice; Amateur. Boy, would they see? Everyone would see. They would see soon enough, anyway.

Parvis had found himself loving it the more he progressed; whether it be learning about something new it could help him do, or help him formulate ideas of how to become more powerful. Nevertheless, he soon foresaw an obstacle on his path. With all of the recent work Parvis had been doing, he found himself becoming less and less suitable for performing over the altar. The magic itself had proved to be quite taxing, but it was all worth it. In fact, Parvis had thought to himself, he was so close to reaching something very high level that nothing could put it to delay!

This slowly but surely lead to his next point; the obstacle.

Parvis new he didn't have much of a choice at this point, that what he needed to do was going to be risky. Worries and anxieties swamped his already foggy mind, and the constant silence around the castle didn't help the awkward barrier between him and his blonde friend. It was almost deafening, and he found himself getting so twitchy and sweaty when the subject came up that cowardice immediately took him over and the matter was forced into an even later due date.

It made things so much worse.

In the silence and distantness of the night, Will caught himself finally drifting off into peaceful sleep. That is, until-

"…Hey, Will?" Parvis' uneven voice shattered whatever silence was previously there. He earned a disgruntled grumble from the man across the bed, obviously upset for having interrupted his finally earned sleep. He didn't bother turning around from his faced-away- position, either. "Could I ask you something?" There was another grunt. "Uh… Right. I need you to do something for me."

This time, Will shifted a little in his positioning, but still didn't turn around. "This can wait 'til tomorrow." His words were half mumbled, but Parv supposed it was better than a grunt. He laughed nervously.

"Actually," he started again, deciding that the best place to stare was at the back of Will's head, where his face would be if he turned around. "It's about something I need you do tomorrow, but I figured I give you a little heads up." He earned a sigh from Will.

"Fine, go on." He exasperatedly muttered. It took a while for Parvis to figure out exactly how he wanted to say things, but went ahead despite his doubts.

"So, as you know, I've been getting pretty good into Blood Magic lately, and-"

Will interrupted with a loud and drawled out _"Uuuggghhh,"_

"Will, cooperate with me here. Anyways, yeah. As you know, it's only a matter of time before I'm probably the most powerful person on this server." He continued on, with an almost inaudible "sure" from Will's side of the bed. "I've been using more than just sacrifices for power in the altar, and you've probably figured that out by now…" Silence. "But even so, I'm going to need your help on a few things. As my work (Will admittedly grunted a little at the use of Parvis' word choice) progresses, I find it a little- well, very taxing. To the point where I'm gonna need your help. It'll be fast and simple, and I-"

"Whoa, Whoa, Whoa. There's no way I'm helping you with your sacrificial potty mouth wizardry, Parv." He interrupted again, shaking his head slightly to himself with a stern look into the darkness.

"But all I need you do is provide for some blood in the altar-"

"Wait. You want me to sacrifice my own blood for-"

"No! That's not what I said. My blood will be just fine for use, Strife. There's no problem with you getting injured. Trust me, it'll be really fast and simple, and I'll even provide you with instructions. It's not even that big of a deal!" Parvis reassured quickly.

Once again, a painful silence filled the room like floodwater. Parvis felt like he was drowning as he awaited his friend's response, and Strife felt as if water clogged his throat as he processed what Parvis was asking him to do. At least a minute worth of life evaluation passed between the two partners, and Will slowly turned his head towards the ceiling.

"Parvis…?" He whispered; the mute room now penetrated by his voice – which was low and gruff from lack of sleep. He turned fully and twisted himself around in the mattress to see the lanky boy eying him cautiously. "Are you… asking me to cut you over the altar?" Will's voice suddenly dropped in sternness, a more cautious and almost hurt tone than aggravated.

Parvis reeled his head back from his response. He hadn't been sure what to expect. "No, no, n- well, yes, but Will, I think you're taking this a bit too seriously! I only nee-"

"Too seriously? Too seriously?! Parvis, I don't think _you_ understand." He bit back, more vicious than intended. Never the less, he continued on without hesitation. "Why can't you be more conscious of what you're doing, what you're doing to those surrounding you, and most importantly - what you're doing to yourself? You're so deep into this potty mouth magic that I don't think you know what's at cost here." He snapped, wincing slightly as he saw Parvis' face contort from confusion to anger. He narrowed his eyes in slight disgust.

"Oh, I see what this is about…" The ebony haired man muttered, his lip snaring slightly.

"What?" Will started, taking a level off of his previous irritation. "What could this possibly be about other than your oblivious ignorance, Parv?" He retorted snarkily, and turned to lie flat on his back. Parvis shook his head slowly, his mouth twitching into a disappointed smirk.

"Oh, Will. Silly little Will. Why does everything about you have to be about Supremacy? Power? Why can't you accept that I've grown more powerful than you? I'm no longer the noob you adopted at the start of this adventure, Strife. It's almost sad, that you would go out of your way to spout these lies about m-

"_Parvis." _The word came out as a hissed bark. Another awkward quietness settled in the room before Will continued. "Are you even hearing yourself? Sure, I may be a pretty big CEO in terms of company business, but if everything I did were about power and dominance, I'm not sure _I'd_ even be able to live with myself. Why would I even be here if everything I was focused on was power? Last time I checked, I've made no profit whatsoever by sticking around here. Around you. Why? Well, Parvis, the situation is explanatory. Look at this. Look at you. You've been going at Blood magic nonstop for seemingly ages, and yes- of course it's taken a toll on you. Look at your arms, Parvis. Look at them! They've got scars of all variety littered worse than the streets of New Orleans after Marti-Gras. Do you know how disheartening it is to look at you and see only the scars of what you've done to yourself?"

"W-well, they're just lines... It's no big deal-"

"Lines?" Will sighed and looked worriedly at his friend, feeling regret rot inside him as he continued. "Those are scars, Parvis. They will never heal, especially from the amount that you've reopened them. And- And what's worse… The taint. On your hands. It's the worst of what's happening. It's blood, Parvis. You've literally done so much blood magic that the blood cells in your body have somehow broken flow and stained the cells in your epidermis. And, even better, now that they're there, the only thing they can do is spread the more magic you perform."

"Well, I'm sure I could've guessed that, but… It looks kind of cool. Like a tattoo." Parvis tried to compromise, half to himself. Will gave him an incredulous look.

"…._Parvis..." _He interrupted the man's thought with a sigh. Will was beginning to feel more and more defeated as Parvis paid no heed to what he was saying. "I… I literally don't have any ideas of what to do for you, Parv, other than telling you to stop." Parvis gave Will a sympathetic look, as they both knew that stopping altogether wouldn't be easy or likely. Parv now showed more signs of thought, seeing how crushed the business man seemed by the topic.

Parvis threw on what looked like a pout face, confused on what Will was trying to imply. Sure he knew that it could be dangerous and stuff, but if Will isn't interested in the power aspects, why was he upset? Parvis crossed his arms slowly, casting Will a glance. "Why do you even care?" He huffed softly, avoiding the other's disbelieving glare as soon as he finished the sentence.

Will stared incredulously at the brit for a moment, and then shook his head softly and glanced away, back at the ceiling. "Why do I care? Because, Parvis…" He began, his voice dropping to a small whisper. He let out a long sigh of reassignment, figuring out how to place his words. "If you knew what went on in my mind every time you turned to me with that blood craving smile, I swear… Not only am I slightly terrified of what might happen to everyone in the server if this gets out of hand, but… Parvis, I'm terrified of what it's going to do to _you_."

Parvis cast a look full of ebbing anger towards the man whose gaze hardened and froze on the ceiling as the words that came out of his mouth were no longer controlled by him.

"There was a reason I turned against blood magic in college, Parv. I know what it can do to someone, which is why I'm staying away from it. It… If… If you have a weak vulnerability to things that are pleasing, then the end definitely won't be good. It's like a drug, but multiple times worse. It destroys and breaks down the environment of the user and the user themselves, if not careful. The state that it puts everything in… It's horrific. It hurts to think that if you continue like you have been, then I'll start having to deal with the remains of someone who used to be sane. It hurts to see you smile through hurting yourself over and over just for a 'prize' that won't even be relevant in the end. You bleed yourself out multiple times through, and when it's 'accidently gone too far', I'm the only one around to pick up the remnants. I nearly kill myself over anxiety when I'm away, worried that you're going to do something stupid and I'm not going to be there to help you. Parvis, I'm terrified of what's going to happen when you're gone because of what this- this thing's done to you and I'm going to have nothing left but regret. I don't want to let go of you; let the blood consume you. I don't think I could." His voice grew unsteady as he continued, wavering and openly vulnerable as his daze forced him to dig out everything that had been on his mind, whether the blonde had intended in sharing it in the first place.

He let out an insecure chuckle. "So... why do I care, you ask? I care because I'm terrified for your health and your being. I care about _you_. I…" He stopped midsentence, feeling his consciousness float back to him. His voice dropped to a distinct heartbreaking whisper as the feeling of realization hit him.

"I care _so_, _so_, much about you."

Parvis had by now restrained the urge to cover his mouth in awe. Will's little speech had not only taken him by complete surprise, but was shocked silent from what he realized the seriousness of what the American was trying to convey. So, once he had finished, a silence filled the room again. Parvis wanted to say something, everything if possible, but nothing came out. After a long moment, Will reached a hand out from underneath the thick comforter to swipe at his nose. He turned away, back on his side where his backside was facing Parvis, and sniffled a little.

"Sorry," He murmured softly, as tears began to bubble in his eyes. Will defeatedly closed them, causing the tear buds rimming his lids to spill over and float sideways down his face. He wiped at his face with a flustered cough, and Parvis shuffled closer to the Blonde.

"Will…?" He murmured softly, his voice low and gentle. "Are you crying?" Parvis sounded bewildered; taken aback that his friend's usually so formal and strict persona had been chiseled away to nothing. "Is William Strife crying?" He repeated, his voice now taken on a teasing aura to try and cheer the other up.

It was a long time before Will finally answered. "…No." His voice cracked and he stuffed his now flushed pink face into open palms. "No." He corrected, more confident this time, coughing in embarrassment at his voice's previous falter. Parvis quickly clasped a hand over his mouth in an attempt to stop giggles from trailing from his mouth, although some escaped.

Will let a sigh escape his lips. "I'm fine. I just… don't know what to do anymore," he murmured, and Parvis rolled his eyes, turning away.

"You know, Will… If you think I'm skipping through lala-land with a- a dumb griny grin on my face, you're wrong. It's not easy being with you." Will furrowed his brows at this, almost insulted. Right as he opened his mouth to retaliate, Parvis continued. "You, William Strife, CEO of Strife Solutions, are always the one who everyone looks up to and knows well of. And then… and then there's me. Parvy. I've always been the rooky; the amateur; the one who doesn't know what he's doing. And- I always tried to impress you, show you that I care and want to be good. Because… I wanted to be as good as you. But I was never good enough. Never good enough for you, anyway. You were never impressed with anything I did." He mumbled, trailing off.

Will suddenly felt guilt wash over him as Parvis continued. "Blood magic was the only thing I felt I could exceed at. It's funny how you say you don't want to let go of me, but you act like you already have. Even at my beginnings, you weren't impressed. And now, just as I feel I'm almost at the pinnacle of achievement, you're still shooting me down. And yeah, sure, I see where you're coming from, but no matter what I do, I'll never be good enough. And… to be honest," He sighed, turning away from Will in the same manner that he had before. "You probably don't even consider me your apprentice anymore." His voice dropped again.

A long defeated silence fell between the two, and Will closed his eyes, a little overwhelmed. In a moment of slight confusion and risk, he shuffled across the bed and moved in close to his friend, who jumped in surprise as Will slowly wrapped his arms around the ebony haired man's middle. Parvis, still not completely steady from the sudden movement, started to relax into the embrace.

Will sighed into the warmth of Parvis' shoulder, blinking once and then closing his eyes gently. "Parvis…" He murmured into the soft felt of the black tee Parv was wearing, "You'll always be apprentice," He whispered softly, almost hurt that his friend would assume that. He reached his neck up to press soft lips to the back of Parvis' neck, and refrained from the urge to let a huge grin steal his own features as the small hairs on Parvis' neck stood on end.

Will felt any kind of confidence that he had earlier wither away as he got no response. He then hesitantly detached himself from the other man with an inaudible sigh.

Will withdrew to himself quietly, discarding the thought of how cold he suddenly felt and how nice it would be to wrapped up in Parvis nice warm embr-

_Stop,_ He told himself. _That was reckless and a completely idiotic move, Strife._ It wasn't fair, how troubled he was about the topic and Parvis had completely turned the conversation around, making the CEO himself feel guilt instead of the other. Soon enough, worrying thoughts began to reel in his head, making him dizzy, He shut his eyes tight and gripped the sheets, sending the crude considerations away frustratedly.

A sudden shift in the covers snapped Will out of his lightheaded daze, and he nearly jumped out of skin when the now sudden warmth of Parvis' breath brushed his neck. A soft 'thank you,' swarmed his ear as a low pillow of warm, breathy, air engulfed it. Will anticipated for Parvis to mimic him by replicating the move he had applied earlier, but instead a sweet chuckle resounded instead. Will closed his eyes peacefully, enjoying the noise as it came.

"You're so gay," was not at all what Strife was expecting to come out the blood mages mouth next. He doubled over with held back laugher and tried not to choke as Parv giggled again into his ear. "What?" He panted between chuckles, "You totally just spooned me and then whispered romantically in my ear that I would always be yours! Not to mention the kiss at the end." He spurted in between gasps for air.

Will flinched. "Th-that's not what I did _or_ said, Parv!" He exclaimed haphazardly, shaking his head with a panic and feeling his face grow hot with every second that Parvis continued to laugh. With a final exhale between the two, the same silence from before resurfaced. A nervous laugh escaped the dark haired man's lips, and he scooted a little closer to Will.

"Soo…. How, uh… How'd you do that?" He asked sheepishly, which was definitely a new approach for someone so loud and boisterous. Parvis was met with a grunt of confusion as a response, and he rephrased the question. "I… I don't know how to cuddle…?" He giggled, and Strife shook his head whilst holding back a chuckle himself.

There was no way he would tell him- seeing the guitarist flustered and hesitant was cute enough and Strife definitely wasn't complaining. A strangled "B-but…" Left his lips and Will released the chuckle he had been holding.

There were several minutes of Parvis awkwardly adjusting his position to try and get a better view of what he was dealing with and how he could go about the difficulty of cuddling – All the While Will stayed in a position of stubbornness as he laid facing away from the confused brit.

Finally, in a huff of annoyance, Parvis gave up and shuffled in impossibly closer to the American. Will shifted his shoulder blades a little, feeling a little uncomfortable in knowing that Parvis was actually unknowingly getting closer to correctly cuddling. _If that was even a thing, of course._

Will's formerly tired and droopy eyes (weary from chuckling and trying not to chuckle) now were now wide awake, staring helplessly at the wall as bony arms slipped between his arm and waist to drape around his middle. Parvis' chin now rested on his shoulder, and Will felt a jitteriness creep up his spine.

It wasn't that the blonde was- was _ticklish_ or anything, just very sensitive around his neck. He ignored the feeling, however, and couldn't help but melt slowly into the warmth of his friends embrace. He _wasn't_ enjoying it, and he _definitely_ couldn't feel himself falling asleep in Parvis' comforting enfold.

That's at least what he tried to tell himself.

Parvis had seemed quite content with their position as well, because when a few moments had passed, he secured his hold on the CEO and buried his chin further into the cranny of Will's neck.

At this, Will jumped a little, and Parvis rebounded by pulling away. Will immediately felt regretful absence wash over him. "Will? What's wrong?" Parvis murmured softly, glancing over at his friend.

"Nothing! Nothing," He responded quickly, shaking his head and shifting his shoulders slightly. He raised a hand quickly to rub at his neck before Parvis cast a suggestive glance at the man. Will had since then started to float back into a comfortable state, Parvis still curious if a lingering notion in his mind would prove to be true.

He cautiously extended a finger to where the Blonde's hand had previously been protecting, poking the soft skin underneath the cut of his hair with curious and teasing grin. Strife nearly jumped out of his skin and lurched out of the peacefulness he had settled into, and Parvis let out a giggle he didn't know he was hiding.

Will grumbled slightly and shifted a little, moving his hands back to his neck in defense. "Will," Parv started, "Are you ticklish?" He giggled, and couldn't help but to grin harder when Will gave no reply. He shuffled closer to the stubborn man, an idea coming to him.

Parvis reached forward, resting his hand gently on the American's back, and bit back a grin as the other stiffened with anticipation. Taking away all but one finger, Parvis began to slowly trace small intricate patterns up and down Wills back and sides.

Will couldn't help but to allow a shudder to creep down his spine, his frame giving a small tremor as the surprisingly cool finger sent a small jolt through his veins. A hot feeling spread from his cheeks down to his neck, and Will fidgeted slightly as Parvis' finger moved across his backbone. He particularly felt vulnerable as Parvis stopped between his shoulder blades, running his finger multiple times down the indention of his spine and not hesitating to stop to reiterate a spot where he felt Strife react the most.

One of these spots that Parvis absolutely loved to mess with was in fact the blonde's neck, where as he would slowly ran a finger down his neck after falling in love with Will's first reaction – a startled, extremely uncharacteristically high pitched "-Gah!"

Parvis paused and sat a puddle of giggles for at _least_ a full three minutes.

However, as the feeling continued (after Parvis' recuperation) and his friend relentlessly traced his back in a surprisingly large amount of different configurations, Will slowly began to relax his shoulders and melt into the guitarist's gentle touch. He let out a silent sigh, deciding that he wouldn't be too disappointed if this went on for a while longer. It was eventually a very welcoming feeling to Will, and now that he considered it, the sensation would be ideal for a relaxation method (as it was often that the stressed businessman would need it).

A small satisfactory grin began to tug at Will's lips, and he felt his eyes slowly flutter shut. After such a long day, he knew that sleep was inevitable, especially with what Parvis was doing. The peacefully closed eyes floated back open as suddenly the feeling stopped, and Parvis retreated his hands back to himself, or so Will thought. Strife felt his cheeks puff slightly as he childishly began to pout at the realization that he didn't realize how nice the feeling was until it was gone.

Suddenly, however, Will jumped as he felt a hand slowly sift through his hair. He tensed a little again, and Parvis began to pet and run his fingers through the soft blonde locks. Like before, though, Will slowly grew accustomed to the feeling, and closed his eyes to the soft massage-like feeling that Parv created. That is, until a finger brushed the back of his ear.

Will flinched as a cool finger brushed the top of his ear, and he could have sworn he sensed the smile of Parvis' face grow rapidly from the reaction he received. Will mentally cursed, fiddling with his thumbs nervously underneath the thick comforter. Parv began to sift his hand through the blonde's hair again, but this time around more frequently pausing to softly rub behind the American's ear. Will tried his best not to flinch away from the strange feeling, noting embarrassedly the heat that rose to cheeks once again.

Will failed.

It wasn't until a select time that Will really felt his head spin. Parvis had gone in for another brush of the ear, but lingered there only to trace the strangely abstract patterns of the ear, running his finger over every line of cartilage and eventually reaching the lobe. Here, Will finally let out an aberrantly abrupt squeak and flinched his head away in fluster.

With a hint of a small giggle, Parvis reached his head down to plant a small kiss on the back of Will's neck, and smiled as Will flinched back again. Both arms moved out to wrap themselves delicately around Will's waist, smiling into the warm surface he'd just kissed. "You're so cute," he mused, smiling fondly.

With a childish grunt, Will shuffled in Parvis grasp, turning around to face the much taller brit, whose head was much further up the pillow than his own. Not bothering to look up at him, though, Strife stuffed his head into the warm chest across from him, and wrapped his own arms around the other's back.

"Hey Will?" Parvis then asked softly. Will nodded slightly in response, a signal for him to continue on. "I promise I'll try my best to cut back on the magic, yeah…?" There was a long silence. "For you?" He added softly, with a chuckle and a small 'for me too I guess, that was kind of the point' at the end.

There was hesitance in the quiet that followed, until Will slowly nodded and hummed softly into the fabric of the brit's shirt. Parvis let out a sigh he didn't know he was holding, and smiled after promptly placing a peck to the blonde's head.

"Alright, then. Goodnight, strife. I love you," He murmured softly.

"I love you too," came Strife's muffled response as he tightened his grip around the man he would never want to let go of.


End file.
